The Money Game

I heard Tony and Britnee in the dining room, sorting change last night and it brought back a memory so strong I immediately wanted to be in my parent's house, in the living room, listening to my dad jingle change in his hand, hearing him say, "Who wants to play the money game?" Of course, no one ever said no to this question!

The money game was easy enough but there were rarely any winners. Sometimes it would be a handful of change, sometimes bills from his wallet and on rare occasions, it would include ALL the change in a coffee can that Dad had been saving for quite a while. I remember someone winning $20 once and it almost seems like someone won $100 one time.

The rules were simple. 1. No two guesses could be the same and 2. Most of the time you had to guess the exact amount.

But the time that sticks out most in my mind was one night when several family members were present and Dad brought out a coffee can. He must have been feeling generous that night (or else he was in a gambling mood) because he told us our guesses only had to come within 25 cents of the actual amount. In reality, that gave us a 50 cent leeway since we could be 25 cents under or over. At any rate, we went around the room and stated our guess. Some of us probably lifted the coffee can and tried to give an even more educated guess. Once all the totals were laid out, the fun began. The coffee can was dumped and everyone gathered around the table and sorted. Dimes over here, pennies there, nickels on this side and quarters on that. We stacked them in piles of 1os and 4s then grouped them into dollars.

When the sorting, piling, grouping and counting was done most of us weren't even close to the 85 dollar and some odd cents total . But my nephew, Paul (PJ as we called him back then :) had guessed within...are you ready for this?

...26 cents!

He begged and pleaded with Papa to share the wealth with him. I begged and pleaded Papa to share the wealth with him. But to no avail. Rules are rules - even when you are less than 10 years old and you miss by a penny.

Under Promise, Over Deliver

That concept has been drilled into my head. I still have a hard time getting it when dealing with other people. But that's Tony's company motto (within the four walls, of course). And that is one reason why they are getting lots of attention in the big city for such a relatively new business venture.

What Tony didn't bargain for was a wife that would finally learn that lesson so well that she would turn the tables on him one fateful day. I've used it quite a bit lately in fact - everytime I spend too much money and know he is going to be less than pleased. Take today for instance, when he told me not to spend too much money at WalMart because he didn't want to have transfer money from our savings. Tomorrow is payday. My mind immediately went to a transaction earlier in the day that I'd done on ebay. I wondered how long it would take paypal to request the $8.95 I'd spent. I finally worked up the courage to tell him after supper. The conversation went kind of like this:

Me: I have a confession (I should let you know I waited until he was flat out on the floor waiting for me to pop his back)

Tony: What confession?

Me: Ummmm, how long does it take paypal to request money from our bank account?

Tony: Immediately. Why?

Me: Oh. I bought some scrapbook supplies online today. $50 worth. They were having a big sale.

Tony: What?!? (pause) How much really?

Me: $20 (see under promise, over deliver...start out with a really high amount so when you finally get down to what you really spent it sounds like peanuts)

Tony: (apparently hearing the grin in my voice) How much?

Me: $20 (it helps to emphasize the doubled dollar amount a time or two...then the actual, lesser amount is really a relief)

Tony: How much?

Me: $20

Tony: (he's onto my game) $5 or $10?

Me: $8.95

Tony: Okay.

Me: Under promise, over deliver. Do you know who taught me that concept?

Tony: (no reply - you only hear the sizzle...burned!)